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Small Business Owners Hail Maine Voters’ Defeat of Question 3

Small Business Owners Hail Maine Voters’ Defeat of Question 3

November 8, 2023 Last Edit: June 5, 2025

NFIB Strongly Urged a No Vote on State Takeover of Maine’s Power Companies

Small Business Owners Hail Maine Voters' Defeat of Question 3

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AUGUSTA, ME (November 8, 2023) – The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business advocacy association, welcomed Maine voters’ decisive rejection of Question 3 on the statewide referendum ballot. NFIB had announced strong opposition to the creation of a state public power authority, which would have taken over private energy companies, and urged voters to vote No on the proposal. “It’s a relief that the costly and contentious takeover of CMP and Versant was defeated, but it’s also important to recognize that the need for improved service and reliability remains” said NFIB State Director David Clough. “A public power authority and politics were not the answer, but the question remains as to how regulators and the power companies will respond to the concerns of ratepayers.” Clough noted that small businesses in particular would have been vulnerable to the potentially crushing new costs and energy instability – at a time of record challenges to their survival – that the imposition of a new state power utility would have brought. With a price tag of more than $13 billion by some estimates, and potentially ruinous new bureaucracy, liabilities, disruptions, and ultimately higher energy costs for Mainers, local NFIB members were strongly opposed to Question 3. NFIB Maine worked hard to educate voters about the impact a Yes vote on Question 3 would have had on the energy costs and security of all Maine ratepayers and especially small businesses, which are already being hit by higher labor and operational costs, as well as persistent inflationary costs not seen in more than 40 years.

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For 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses, and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.
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